During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump promised the American people that if he won, he would launch the largest mass deportation program in history on day one. His Election Day victory made the world feel much darker for many Americans, including myself.
He is the man who, in 2015, said, “[Mexico is] sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” Of course, he finished this quote by saying, “And some, I assume, are good people,” but his supporters have upheld the negative narrative of Mexican immigrants that Trump imposed, not the positive one. Eight years later, he said, “[Unauthorized immigrants] are poisoning the blood of our country. That’s what they’ve done,” as well as saying a year later, “[Nancy Pelosi] said, ‘Please don’t use the word animals when you’re talking about [unauthorized immigrants].’ I said, ‘I’ll use the word animal because that’s what they are.’” For nearly a decade, Trump has dehumanized, degraded and othered the immigrant population of the United States.
Because of his past, it is no secret that the immigrant community has been one of the Trump administration’s primary targets. For the entirety of his political career, he has been a key player in anti-immigrant rhetoric. After his victory, this rhetoric persisted in addition to his commitments to end birthright citizenship and launch mass deportation programs.
During his first week in office, Trump signed a historic 35 executive orders — more than any other president in history. According to the Vera Institute of Justice, over a dozen orders directly target immigration, including “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” and “Securing Our Borders.” In addition to these orders, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on Jan. 29, a bill that “requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting.”
Staying tuned into all the recent developments targeting the immigrant community has been emotionally tiring. It seems like every day, something new happens, and I grow more fearful of what his administration will do to my people. Although Trump’s comments and actions have been aimed explicitly at the unauthorized immigrants of this country, his words have tainted the reputations of all who are not born in this country, regardless of whether they have authorization to reside here. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers made thousands of arrests during Trump’s first week in office, according to Axios, immigrants of all statuses are scared to leave their homes. Immigrants have been labeled as invaders and criminals, ready to steal jobs from the American people.
However, these labels are clearly wrong. According to NPR, research shows that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens. In 2019, the Marshall Project found that unauthorized immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated, along with there being no link between unauthorized immigrants and property crimes. Immigrants are not increasing crime rates, nor are they responsible for stealing jobs. The Pew Research Center found that immigrants primarily work jobs that most Americans do not want to work, such as in agriculture, construction and domestic services. In doing jobs like these, immigrants generate trillions of dollars to the U.S. economy, as well as billions in taxes and with the power to lower the federal budget deficit by “$897 billion over the next decade,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Perhaps even more important than these facts, U.S. immigrants — both documented and undocumented — have families whose livelihoods depend on living in the U.S. However, the White House press secretary labeled all unauthorized immigrants, regardless of whether they have been convicted of violent crimes, as “criminals.” Still, most of these individuals are good-hearted, hard workers who want good lives.
In a country whose colonial ancestors invaded the land of Indigenous tribes to form their own country, the U.S., under the Trump administration, ironically has no mercy for immigrants who are actually contributing peacefully and productively to the well-being of our country. The increasing anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. only proves to me that the Trump administration seeks to create a homogeneously white, Christian nation. The “others” are in danger — especially now, as the constitutional right to due process has been seemingly revoked from part of the U.S. population. I worry that this is only half of how Trump plans to subdue the minority.
The immigrants of this country were the individuals who allowed me to be where I am today. They taught me to work hard and believe I can make my dreams come true. No matter how calm a life they live, they will be perceived as the enemy. I encourage you to share any resources with those who may be in danger, such as those from the ACLU and the National Immigrant Justice Center. Finally, as the Right Rev. Mariann Budde urged Trump and the U.S., please have mercy for the immigrants of this nation.
